Michael, Carl, and the Order of Daemons
by C. Richard Crawg
Summary: Rating may change to M. Carl was an ordinarily duelist who loved to construct various decks. But when the shady Corbak comes and offers him a deal he can't refuse, Carl will find himself fighting his best friend Michael, and working to destroy the world. On hiatus.
1. Nightmares

Author's Note

**All fiction stories are based off of dreams, but some of the darkest most suspenseful ones are based off of nightmares. Well, so is this one. It is based off of a recurring nightmare I had for several months two years ago. But there's something about this nightmare that makes it even worse than most.**

**All nightmares have a "monster". Not necessarily in the literal sense, but all nightmares have something or someone that seeks to destroy you and/or people you love. Maybe the "monster" is a tornado, a massive cliff, a tax collector, or maybe a literal monster; it doesn't matter. The overall point is that they all serve the same purpose; they all attempt to seek out and destroy something you cherish, be it your life or someone else's or something else you love.**

**But the worst nightmares aren't the ones where the ones with blood sucking vampires. They don't have a tax collector intent on taking your home or a lawyer bent on taking your kids. They don't have tornados or hurricanes or any other thing in the natural world you might fear. Well,… okay, it **_**could**_** have those things, but not exclusively, because you see, the worst nightmares are when…**

…**YOU are the monster.**

**YOU are the thing bent on destruction. YOU will be solely responsible if you fail at something. It will be YOUR fault. That is the worst kind of nightmare. That is this kind of nightmare. So read it, if you dare…**


	2. Prolouge

**Michael, Carl, and the Order of Daemons**

Prologue

Carl was cleaning his room. His mom hadn't asked him to do it, no; he had volunteered. He needed an excuse to cover up what he was really trying to do.

He was trying to remove her from his room.

Not that Petunia Rose was literally in his room, far from it. But her memories were. A picture here, a present there, memories of Petunia were everywhere in Carl's room, and if there was one thing Carl was certain of it was this: those memories had to go.

Just like she had.

Petunia wasn't dead, but she had left him for another boy, some guy named Brennden Halo. It hadn't been because she was a traitor, though she felt like one. It hadn't been because Carl had done anything wrong; quite the opposite, Carl had been Petunia's best boyfriend yet.

But Brennden was better still.

Brennden was everything Petunia had loved about Carl and more. Thus she ended up caring about him more. Carl was grieved at this and had told her that he would never give up on her. But he ran out of patience, and relentlessness without patience is guaranteed to either dissipate or corrupt with time. Carl had felt the failure of his relentlessness long ago, and he refused to let it corrupt him.

And that was why he was doing this.

It was better if he didn't have these memories in his room, plaguing him constantly. Maybe then he would be able to move on. And thus it was that Carl was cleaning out his room when Corbak spotted him.

That is to say, when Corbak spotted him and read his mind.

Corbak had looked long and hard to find the Deck Builder before Solus could. Now, seeing Carl in front of him (well, technically, Carl wasn't in front of him because Corbak had found him in a vision), he was sure he had found the one. And if he could strike up a partnership with the Deck Builder, finding the other chosen ones wouldn't be that difficult.

And what better way to get Carl to pledge allegiance to Corbak than by offering him that which he most desired: his lost love?


	3. Uninvited Guests

Chapter One

Uninvited Guests

Jake and his three cohorts pulled up in front of the house. They walked up to the front door with their fingers crossed. Corbak had told them that this was most assuredly Carl's house, but they had no way of knowing if he was right or if he had given them the right directions. On the bright side, though, if Corbak was wrong, Jake would know.

Jake had met Carl before. Both of them were in the Boy Scout program, and they were in the same troop during the National Jamboree. That was how Jake had gotten his favorite deck. Even though he only knew the bare minimum of the Yu-gi-oh card game, Carl had been willing to let him play with them. ("Them" refers to Carl and his two dueling friends from the Jamboree, Malcolm Siefermen and Derek Macready.) It helped that Carl had brought so many extra decks; it seemed as though one could play using any theme.

During one of their duels, Jake had found that he had a natural talent with Carl's Fiend Deck. He used it continually and never got an unlucky hand. He and the Fiend Deck just seemed to fit together, and when Carl's friend from the next troop over, some guy named Michael Stone, organized a miniature Yu-gi-oh tournament, people in Jake's troop were literally placing bets that he would win. Carl had actually said that if Jake won, he could keep the Fiend Deck for free, even though it had taken him a long time to build it. And it was working too. Jake defeated everyone who challenged him, until only three competitors were left: himself, Michael Stone, and another guy called Ryan Montague from Michael's troop.

That was when things got bad. Jake didn't actually do anything in the tournament that caused his getting kicked out. Rather, the adult leaders got wind of… other things he had done during the Jamboree, things that were more serious than he'd realized. The adult leaders had forbidden him from finishing the tournament as part of his punishment. But Carl had felt compassion towards him. When Jake had sufficiently recovered from the initial shock of learning the magnitude of what he'd done, Carl came to him, and he told him. "Here, take this. It belongs with you. You've mastered it better than I did in just two days, and I'm the one who built it! Besides, I was going to give it to you even if you didn't win, and I truly believe that, despite the dangerous competition you would've had in the final round, you would have won."

On that same day, Jake and Carl had parted company, and Jake had not seen him since. Up until the point Corbak found him, Jake had been under a sort of house arrest. His parents, displeased with what he had done at the Jamboree, took him out of… pretty much everything, even public school. But somehow, there must have been someone, somewhere who remembered him and mentioned him to Corbak, because Corbak had found him. Corbak, upon hearing this story was ecstatic. Determined to see this natural dueling skill, he had one of his Orichalcos drones duel Jake. Jake won, and Corbak was frantic with excitement. "No one could have defeated one of my Orichalcos drones in a duel without magic," he had said, "unless that person was one of the chosen duelists."

At that point Jake was offered a job as Corbak's second-in-command. It took a lot of convincing, but in the end Jake accepted the offer. Since then, Corbak had been going crazy trying to find Carl. But by now Jake was fully aware of what his job entailed and why finding Carl was so important; he was the Deck Builder. By his sixteenth birthday, the Deck Builder would have some sort of relationship, friendly or not, with all of the chosen duelists, and even though many of the chosen duelists build their own decks, many more chosen duelists would not realize their true potential until they got their hands on a deck built by the Deck Builder. Finding the Deck Builder and winning his allegiance was critical, because it would give Corbak a direct route to finding the other chosen duelists.

Now, Jake was here, in front of what supposedly was Carl's house. He was about to smash the door in with his newfound powers, but he was stopped by one of his cohorts. "Please, can we please do the one where we knock politely and, when they open the door, say, 'Hi we're here to kidnap your son?'" Another one of Jake's cohorts groaned and said, "Come on, no. That's the corniest bad-guy-joke in the history of bad-guy-jokes."

Jake rolled his eyes. They did this every time. Then they'd put it to a vote. It would be a tie, and the owners of the household would open the door out of curiosity long before they had made up their minds. This time, Jake had no intention of letting the others hold him back. He knew that this was just another one of Corbak's guesses and he could easily be wrong, but something about this felt different. Jake felt that this time Corbak might have picked right, and he refused to let this routine quarrel hold him back when the prize was so close. Jake's fist started glowing and he punched the door, which almost completely disintegrated at his mystical attack.

"There," Jake said, "the door is open." His third cohort sniggered. "You never could come up with anything original could you?" "Just get in there!" Jake yelled, now overly annoyed by the antics of his underlings. "Stay out of my house!" In all the time they spent arguing, a man, presumably the father of the household, had come to the door and was now trying to block the entrance. Jake grinned. This man had no chance of stopping them from doing what they wanted; after all he wasn't magical. Jake extended his hand to capture the soul of the man.

But nothing happened. He just continued to stand defiantly in their way raising an eyebrow. This could only mean that the man standing before them was another chosen duelist. Actually, that made sense. Carl had said that his dad duels. At the Jamboree tournament, he had intended on taking the win for his father by using his father's deck. He lost in the second round of the tournament… to Ryan Montague, the guy that came in second place overall. To have lasted as long as it had against Ryan, Mr. Colburn's deck must be powerful. And if he was a chosen duelist…

"Tom duel him!" The lackey named Tom raised an eyebrow, but arguing with the leader in the face of the enemy is not a good idea. Tom stepped forward and pulled up the sleeve on his right arm. On Tom's arm was a purple line and upon being exposed it started glowing. Purple-blue flames shot up out of the ground behind Tom and rushed to form a circle around himself and Mr. Colburn.

Satisfied that Mr. Colburn would be stuck until he could defeat all of his minions in duels Jake smashed his way in through a window. As soon as he did so, he saw Carl, along with a woman and a little boy, presumably his mother and younger brother. "Carl!" Carl and his family, who had rushed to see what all the commotion was about, jerked their heads towards Jake. "What do you want?" "Now, now, is that any way to treat an old friend Carl?" Jake asked disarmingly. At this point Carl seemed to recognize him.

"Carl, take me to the room that you keep your decks in, or I'll destroy your family," Jake said, pointing to Carl's mother and brother. At that, Carl's mother moved herself between Jake and Carl. "Oh, no. My son is not going with you anywhere." "Listen, I'm not going to kidnap him or kill him or anything like that. I just want him to take me to the room the Yu-gi-oh decks are in. You can come if you want, but if you do not comply, death, or at the very least something close enough to it, will ensue." "Mom, do it," Carl called in fear. "If not for your sake, do it for Nathaniel's." Carl's mother started, thought, and finally bowed her head in defeat.

Carl pushed past his mother to Jake. "I remember you. You're the guy I gave my Fiend Deck to." "I see you've forgotten my name," Jake observed. "It's Jake, and, as I said before, if you want to protect your family you will take me to the room that your Yu-gi-oh decks are in." Reluctantly, Carl complied and showed Jake to his bedroom. "There," he said. "Now take what you want and go." Jake threw back his head and laughed. "If only it were so simple. But you see, Carl, I'm not here to collect money or some cards; I'm here to collect you."

Carl jumped in surprise. "What?" "My master sent me here to bring you to him. Here's how it's going to work. We're going to duel. If I win, I get to take you back with me. However if you win, my companions and I will leave peaceably." Carl was now thoroughly confused. "But, you told my mom that you weren't here to kidnap me. And wouldn't fighting me be simpler than dueling me? I'm not the best fighter in the world." Jake grinned. "As to your first question, I lied. As to your second question,… well, it's complicated, but suffice it to say dueling is far more effective. You'll get more details later. And here use this."

Jake handed Carl a strange looking disk. After examining it for a moment Carl's eyes widened. "This is a duel disk!" Jake nodded strapping another one onto his own arm. "But these aren't supposed to exist." Jake laughed. "You have so much to learn. But all will become clear in time. For now we duel." Carl, not knowing what else to do, strapped on his duel disk and inserted his Zombie Deck into the deck compartment. "Alright, let's do this!"


	4. Carl and Jake: Zombies vs Fiends

Chapter Two

Carl and Jake: Zombies vs. Fiends

Carl turned on the duel disk. But to his amazement, the first thing it did was to send him error report and eject one of his cards from the middle of the deck. Jake laughed, a habit that was starting to annoy Carl. "Looks like your duel disk either found an illegal or fake card in your deck. You'll have to pull it out." Now Carl was more confused than before. All of the cards in all of his decks were legit. What did the duel disk find? Could Jake have rigged his duel disk to reject certain cards in his deck? But then why was it only ejecting one card?

Carl pulled the card out and looked at it. He then looked up at Jake and furiously yelled, "This card is Earthbound Immortal Ccapac Apu! It's genuine and perfectly legit! This system's rigged!" "It's not rigged. While you're right to say that Earthbound Immortal Ccapac Apu is a legit card, the card you're holding is a fake. A real Earthbound Immortal has mystical properties that your duel disk is programmed to detect. That card is nothing more than ink and paper and therefore is a fake." Carl raised an eyebrow at him, but then he remembered the purple flames that had surrounded his dad. Perhaps Jake wasn't just blowing hot air, though he was certainly doing that too.

Then Carl remembered his extra deck. Pulling out his Synchro Monsters, he held them in front of Jake. "What about these monsters. Do any of these need to be magic in order to be real." Jake took a quick glance at the Synchros and said, "Yes. The Hundred-Eyes Dragon and Ancientfairy Dragon cards are both fake. You won't be able to Synchro Summon them." Carl still wasn't fully convinced, but if the duel disk didn't recognize them, then it wouldn't matter whether or not Jake was telling the truth.

Both duel disks set for 8000 life points and spat out the top 5 cards on their decks to be their hands. "Before we get started," Jake said, "allow me to set the stage and show you what you're up against." Jake rolled up his sleeve and revealed a purple tattoo that Carl recognized from the Yu-gi-oh 5Ds TV show as being the Mark of the Giant. Immediately, the tattoo started glowing and purple flames swirled around them destroying anything in their way. The roof caved in, and in the sky, Carl could see a reflection of the flames. They spread far and wide, eventually forming the same mark as the one on Jake's arm.

"There," Jake said. "That's not technically a turn, but it was the first move so you can have the first turn." Carl, though thoroughly amazed, just grinned. "Fine," he replied. "I draw. And first I'll activate the spell card Terraforming." He placed the card in the duel disk, and a mystogram (mystic hologram) of the card appeared. "This card allows me to search my deck for a field spell and add it to my hand." Carl's deck ejected. He selected a card and placed the deck back in the deck slot. "But I won't activate it yet. Instead I'll set one monster face-down in defense mode and end my turn." The mystogram of Terraforming faded, signifying that it was resolved, and a card appeared face-down and sideways. "It's your move."

"Well now," Jake said, "that's quite the interesting move. As for myself, I will place one monster face-down in defense mode as well. That's all for now." Another mystogram card appeared in front of Carl's. "You know, it will be a pretty long duel if we both play defense. Why don't you try attacking?" Carl glared. "Oh I will. It's my draw."

Carl looked at his hand. Jake was a dangerous opponent to attack when he had a face-down. Fortunately, Carl had a backup plan. "First, I Flip Summon my face-down monster, Needle Worm." The mystogram in front of Carl disappeared and an ugly worm covered with needles and growling viciously at Jake took its place, and a mechanical voice said, "Attack of Needle Worm, 750." "And now my Needle Worm's special ability activates. When Needle Worm is Flip Summoned successfully, the top 5 cards of your deck are discarded to the graveyard." The Needle Worm swelled and shot out several of its needles into Jake's duel disk. "Still playing the same old deck drain strategy I see," Jake complained as he placed 5 cards in his graveyard. "Hey, you know what my motto is: beat 'em by life points if possible, beat 'em by deck drain if necessary," Carl replied cockily. "Either way can bring about victory. Speaking of which, for my next move I'll summon the Soul Absorbing Bone-Tower." A mystogram of a hideous mountain of skulls, ribs and every other bone in a body appeared to the left of the Needle Worm, and the voice said, "Attack of Soul Absorbing Bone-Tower, 400." "Next I play the field spell Zombie World." The ground around the duelists became shrouded in mist; bones were everywhere and a couple withered old trees appeared on the battlefield. The mist enshrouded the Needle Worm, which gave an unearthly cry as it rotted becoming even uglier than before. "Thanks to my field spell all monsters on the field and in both of our graveyards become Zombie Type. Also, we can only Tribute Summon monsters if they are Zombie Type. Now I'll activate the spell card Tribute to the Doomed." A mystogram of the Tribute to the Doomed spell card appeared behind the Needle Worm. "This spell allows me to discard one card from my hand to the graveyard in order to destroy one monster you control. So now I'll discard my Goldd, Wu-lord of Dark World in order to destroy your face-down monster." A mystogram of a giant mummified hand came out of the ground, grabbed Jake's face-down monster and pulled it into the ground. "Oh, and since your monster was destroyed by a card effect, you won't be able to use any Flip Effects." Jake glared at that. "But if you thought all that was bad, just wait because I'm not done. Since Goldd, Wu-lord of Dark World was discarded from my hand to the graveyard by a card effect, his ability Special Summons him to the field." A ghastly hand shot out of the ground, and it was followed up by the rest of its body, that of a gold-colored rotting Wu-lord. "Attack of Goldd, Wu-lord of Dark World, 2300." "And since my Zombie World is in play, he was a Zombie monster before and after the Special Summon. And whenever a Zombie Type monster is Special Summoned, the effect of my Soul Absorbing Bone-Tower activates. So now, 2 cards are discarded from the top of your deck." Two mystographic balls of light flew out of Jakes duel disk and into the Soul Absorbing Bone-Tower. "Now since you're defenseless, Goldd, Wu-lord of Dark World, attack!" At command, Goldd reared up to strike Jake's life points.

Suddenly, a wall of mystographic Kuribohs appeared and stopped Goldd's attack. They then disappeared. Thoroughly bewildered, Carl asked, "What just happened?" Jake laughed his maniacal laugh and replied, "I used Kuriboh's special ability. By discarding it from my hand to the graveyard, I can decrease all battle damage from one attack to zero, so your Goldd didn't even make a scratch." Carl glared. "Maybe not, but I've got two more monsters in play to scratch you with. And without Kuriboh, you won't be able to stop them. Go, Needle Worm, attack!" Jake was knocked to the ground by the Needle Worm and his life points dropped from 8000 to 7250. "Now, Soul Absorbing Bone-Tower, it's your turn." A jaw bone shot out of the bone tower and left a lump on Jake's head and his life points dropped to 6850. But Jake kept laughing. "You're as strong as ever, Carl. But I'm afraid you won't defeat me by digging through my deck and scratching at my life points." "Whatever," Carl said. "It's your move."

"Finally," Jake said drawing a card. "First, I activate the effect of Dark Nephthis. So now by having 3 or more Dark attribute monsters in my graveyard and removing 2 of them from play, I can send Dark Nephthis from my hand to the graveyard, then I can Special Summon it to the field during my next Standby Phase. As it so happens, you managed to send just enough monsters from my deck to the graveyard last turn for me to do this. Now with that done, I use the special effect of Cyber Ourobouros. Since I removed it from play using Dark Nephthis's ability, its special effect allows me to discard a card in order to draw a card from my deck." Jake drew the card and looked at it. Then he grinned wildly. "This will come in handy soon, but first check this out. Since I discarded Night Assailant from my hand to the graveyard by the effect of Cyber Ourobouros, I can use its special ability. So now, I can add one Flip Effect monster from my graveyard to my hand. And I choose the monster you tried to get rid of last turn: Big Eye." Carl rolled his eyes. For certain he hadn't seen any of this coming, but trying to use Big Eye's Flip Effect was so predictable. It's what he would've done in Jake's place. "Finally, I'll place one monster face-down in defense mode and 3 cards face-down." Four mystograms of face-down cards appeared on Jake's side of the field. "My turn is over."

"Alright then, I draw." "Hold on," Jake interrupted, "I activate my face-down card, Eye of Truth. This trap card will allow me to see every card in your hand at all times." Three mystograms appeared in front of Carl, each with a picture of a different card in his hand. They were Vampire Lord, Zombie Master, and Iron Chain Snake. "Okay," Carl said, "so you can see my hand. Good for you, but I'm not done, not by a long shot. So now, I'll sacrifice my Needle Worm in order to summon Vampire Lord." The Needle Worm faded along with the mystographic Vampire Lord card and in their place, a purple-skinned man with fangs and a black cape appeared on the field. However, despite his terrifying appearance, the Vampire Lord was the handsomest monster on the field at that time. "Attack of Vampire Lord, 2000." "And now, Goldd, Wu-lord of Dark World, attack his face-down monster!" Goldd moved toward Jake's face-down and prepared to strike. "Not so fast!" Jake interrupted again, "I activate my trap card, Magical Arm Shield. So now, I select a monster on your side of the field other than the attacking monster, take control of it, and make it your new attack target." Just as Goldd struck, Vampire Lord got in front of it and was destroyed instead. "Of course, since Vampire Lord was technically under my control and it was in attack mode, I take 300 points of battle damage, but that's a small price to pay for my plan." Jake's life points dropped from 6850 to 6550. "Now if I'm not mistaken, there's nothing left you can do, and you will end your turn now." "Close," Carl said, "but slightly off. Before ending my turn, I'll switch my Soul-Absorbing Bone Tower into defense mode." "Defense of Soul-Absorbing Bone Tower, 1500." "Now I'm done."

"How right you are," Jake said as he drew his card, "because this is when I turn the tables. First, during my Standby phase, I'll resolve the effect of my Dark Nephthis. Since I sent it to my graveyard using its ability last turn, I get to Special Summon it to the field." A ghastly pair of gold-black wings came out of the ground followed by the rotting body of a bird-man. "Attack of Dark Nephthis, 2400." Jake looked a little shocked. "What happened to my monster? It used to be majestic; now it looks like an old hag with wings." Carl giggled. "Forgot about my field spell already? Zombie World transforms all monsters on the field and in both players' graveyards into Zombies. And since you just Special Summoned a Zombie Type monster, the special ability of my Soul-Absorbing Bone Tower activates forcing you to discard 2 cards from the top of your deck to the graveyard." 2 glowing mystographic balls of light came out of Jake's duel disk and entered the Soul-Absorbing Bone Tower. On an instinct, Jake looked at a counter on his duel disk that kept track of the number of cards left in his deck. There were 26. Carl's strategy was taking a toll, but he was just getting warmed up. "Nice combo, but I'm about to put an end to it. You see, after I use Dark Nephthis special ability to Special Summon it, I can destroy one spell or trap card on the field. And I'm going to destroy Zombie World." Dark Nephthis started to spin and wind started blow around the field. Carl closed his eyes to shield them from the miniature tempest. When he opened them again, the eerie fog, bones, and withered trees that made up his field spell had been blown away. Dark Nephthis and Goldd, Wu-lord of Dark World went through a transformation. Their skin healed and they appeared more lively and majestic, though no less dangerous. "There, that ought to blow a hole in your plan. Now, I Flip Summon Big Eye." The face-down sideways card disappeared and in its place there came an ugly brute with dozens of eyes covering his body, the largest of which took up its entire face. "Attack of Big Eye, 1200." "And now I'm going to use Big Eye's Flip Effect. So now I'm allowed to pick up the top 5 cards of my deck and rearrange the order they are in." When Jake placed the deck back in the slot, he had a wild look on his face. "And now I'll activate my last face-down, Bad Reaction to Simochi. This card will make it so that whenever a card is activated that would give you life points as healing, you instead take effect damage equal to what you would have gained. Now I activate the Upstart Goblin. This spell card allows me to draw one card from my deck and then give you 1000 life points of healing. Of course, since Bad Reaction to Simochi is in play, instead of gaining 1000 life points you lose 1000 life points." As Jake drew his card, a healing glow came over Carl. At the same time though, purple fog came out of the ground and attacked him, and instead of healing, Carl's life points dropped from 8000 to 7000.

Jake grinned malevolently. "Brace yourself, because between the effects of Big Eye and Upstart Goblin, I was able to draw the card that will take this game to level 2. I activate the field spell Mark of Sepulchos!" Two brown glowing circles, one inside the other, with runes in between them, appeared spinning around the combatants, and a brown jewel necklace that Jake was wearing started to glow. When they finally stopped spinning, lines bounced around on the inside of the innermost circle to form what appeared to be a rough drawing of a crown. The same symbol was then stamped onto Jake's forehead. "As long as this field spell is in play, we will both gain 1000 life points during our standby phases. Then we will have four options. The first is to pay 500 life points in order to draw an extra card from our decks. The second is to pay 1000 life points to destroy one of monster on our enemy's side of the field. The third is to pay 1000 or 2000 life points in order to inflict an amount of effect damage to our opponent equal to how much we pay. And the fourth is to do nothing with the card effect." Jake contemplated his next move. On the one hand, Soul-Absorbing Bone Tower can't be attacked when there's another Zombie Type monster in play and, without Zombie World on the field, the only other monster Carl controlled was a Fiend Type so now would be a good time, maybe even the best time, to attack that deck stealer. But then there was Goldd, Wu-lord of Dark World. Sure Carl would only take 100 points of damage if Jake attacked it, but with the Eye of Truth in play, Jake could also see the Iron Chain Snake in Carl's hand. Jake knew that if any monster with too much power was on the field when Carl played that card, his Dark Nephthis would be as good as gone. Thus, "Dark Nephthis, attack Carl's Goldd." The Dark Nephthis moved in and use a dark wing attack to destroy Goldd, Wu-lord of Dark World. Carl's life points dropped from 7000 to 6900 "Now I end my turn."

"Alright, then, I draw." Carl glared at the spell card he drew, knowing full well what Jake would get to do. Looking at the mystogram of the new card in Carl's hand Jake grinned. "Looks like you drew a spell card, and according to the effect of the Eye of Truth, if you have a spell card in your hand during your Standby Phase, you gain 1000 life points. Of course, with my Bad Reaction to Simochi in play, you'll take 1000 damage instead." Carl watched as the healing light surrounding him became a purple poisonous fog attacking him and as his life points dropped from 6900 to 5900. "It gets worse. My field spell the Mark of Sepulchos also tries to increase your life points by 1000 during the Standby Phase, but… well, you do the math." "I already did," Carl said as his life points dropped to 4900. "There is an upside, though," Jake continued. "Now you can use one of advantageous aspects of the Mark of Sepulchos… for a price. Do I need to refresh your memory as to the possibilities?" "No, I memorize card effects fast." Carl didn't need to think long to decide that he needed to use one of the effects of the Mark, but he also couldn't afford to spend a whole lot of life points, not when he was going to be losing a minimum of 1000 life points during each of his Standby Phases. "I'll pay 500 life points to use the first option of the Mark of Sepulchos, so now I get to draw another card from my deck and my life points drop to 4400." Carl looked at the Bistro Butcher he drew, suddenly wishing for a refund. Still, the spell card he had drawn, Book of Life, might be just what he needed to turn the duel back in his favor. "I activate the Book of Life. So now, I get to Special Summon one Zombie Type monster from my graveyard, and I choose my Vampire Lord." A coffin appeared in the middle of the playing field and the Vampire Lord emerged from it like a gentleman waking up from a nap. "Attack of Vampire Lord, 2000." "But that's not all. The Book of Life also lets me remove from play a monster in your graveyard." Mystograms of the monster cards in Jake's graveyard appeared. "I'll remove from play your Stray Asmodian. And now, of course, since a Zombie monster was Special Summoned, the effect of my Soul-Absorbing Bone Tower activates discarding 2 more cards from the top of your deck to the Graveyard." Jake grimly looked at the number of cards left in his deck. 24; not a whole lot. "And my turn's just getting started. Since I haven't Normal Summoned yet this turn, I'll summon my Iron Chain Snake." "Uh, oh." A mystogram appeared that, at a glance, would have looked like an ordinary chain but was in actuality a strange fusion between a chain and a snake (hence the name.) "Attack of Iron Chain Snake, 800." "And now I'll activate Iron Chain Snake's special ability. This will allow me to equip it to one of your monsters to decrease its ATK and DEF by 800, and if the monster it's equipped to is destroyed in battle, you have to discard a number of cards from your deck to the graveyard equal to the level of the equipped monster. Considering the fact that your Dark Nephthis is level 7 and highly dangerous to leave intact, I'll have my Iron Chain Snake equip itself to him… her… whatever gender it is." The Iron Chain Snake lashed out and sank its fangs into the Dark Nephthis. The Dark Nephthis tried to shake it off, but the Iron Chain Snake clung stubbornly on. "Attack of Dark Nephthis has been reduced to 1600." "Thank you, voice-from-the-duel-disk. And with that done your Dark Nephthis stands powerless to resist my Vampire Lord. Go, Vampire Lord, attack!" The Vampire Lord lashed out at the Dark Nephthis and destroyed it along with the Iron Chain Snake, and Jake's life points reduced from 6550 to 6150. "And now, two effects activate. The first is that of my Iron Chain Snake which will now discard 7 cards from the top of your deck to the graveyard since Dark Nephthis was a level 7 monster." Jake begrudgingly obliged. "The other is the effect of my Vampire Lord. So now, since he successfully inflicted battle damage, I can select monster, spell or trap and you must send one of whatever I picked from your hand or deck to the graveyard. I pick trap." Jake searched his deck for a trap card he could afford to lose and sent it to the graveyard. "That ends my turn."

Jake drew a card and looked at the number of cards left in his deck. 15. Wow, that last turn took a total of 11 cards off his deck. He'd have to take back the offence and wipe out his opponent fast before his deck was completely drained. He looked at his hand. No good. But… "During my Standby Phase, the Mark of Sepulchos increases my life points by 1000. That puts my life points at 7150. Next I'll pay all 1000 of my newly gained life points to use the second option of the Mark, the one that destroys one of your monsters. So my life points drop back to 6150 and I'll destroy Vampire Lord. Before ending my turn I'll switch Big Eye into defense mode." "Defense of Big Eye, 1100." Not the best of turns, but he had to make use of what he had.

"Alright then, I draw." Carl looked at the card in his hand and then looked at Jake grinning maliciously. When the mystogram of the card appeared and Jake saw it, he swore very loudly. "I'm guessing you know the special ability of my Trap Eater." Jake nodded angrily. "But," Jake said, "you won't be able to use it until your Main Phase, thus you'll still take 1000 damage from my Sepulchos/Simochi combo." Carl's life points dropped to 3400. "Fine," Carl said, "but then I can use the special ability of your field spell and pay 1000 life points to destroy your Big Eye." Carl's life points dropped to 2400 and Big Eye was suddenly destroyed by electricity from the Mark. "Also, I can use the special ability of my Vampire Lord. If he's sent to the graveyard by a card effect, I can special summon him during my next Standby Phase." Jake grinned. "Actually, I was expecting that. Unfortunately, for you that is, any monster destroyed by the Mark of Sepulchos has its effect negated for the rest of the duel, so your Vampire Lord is not going to be returning. Also, if a monster whose effect has been negated by the Mark of Sepulchos could have used its effect, the player who owns the monster cannot use the effects of the Mark of Sepulchos during his or her next Standby Phase, not even the 1000 life point gain." Cevin shrugged. "A minor setback. Even so, now you're defenseless. What's more, if you control a face-up continuous trap card, I can destroy it and Special Summon the Trap Eater. Behold, I summon Trap Eater and destroy Bad Reaction to Simochi." A big purple, wrinkly head appeared and chomped down on the Bad Reaction to Simochi with its oversized mouth then floated back to Carl. "Attack of Trap Eater, 1900." "Unfortunately, Trap Eater is a Fiend type, so I can't use the ability of my Soul Absorber. However, since I haven't Normal Summoned yet this turn, I'll call upon my Zombie Master to join my Trap Eater." A thin, wrinkly teenager with an insane look appeared in between Trap Eater and Soul-Absorbing Bone Tower. "Attack of Zombie Master, 1800." "And finally, my Trap Eater and Zombie Master will attack your life points directly." Trap Eater opened its mouth and Zombie Master revealed his claws. "This is gonna hurt," is all Jake could think of saying. The next thing he knew, he was lying on the ground and his life points had dropped to 2450. "My turn is over," Carl said. _And I'll be busted if I don't turn things around right now_, Jake thought.

"I draw." Jake grasped the top of his deck and pulled off the top card and looked at it. "I gain 1000 life points thanks to the effect of the Mark of Sepulchos, but I'll pay all 1000 of them in order to destroy your Trap Eater." The Trap Eater was zapped with electricity from the Mark and dissipated. "Next I'll activate Pot of Avarice. This allows me to select five monsters in my graveyard and add them to my deck and shuffle it. Then I can draw two cards. So I'll return a Big Eye, two La Jinn, the Mystical Genie of the Lamps, a Night Assailant and a Dark Nephthis to my deck." The deck shuffled and then spat out two cards. Jake picked them up with a desperate look on his face that quickly changed into one of excitement. "I summon Double Coston." Two ghosts connected at the tail appeared. "Attack of Double Coston, 1800." Carl raised an eyebrow in surprise. "I thought I was the only one between the two of us that used Fiends and Zombies together. Why did you put a Double Coston in that deck?" "Simple; Double Coston counts as two tributes for the Tribute Summon of a Dark Attribute monster, and coincidentally, most Fiend Type monsters are Dark Attribute. However, in this case I summoned Double Coston so that I could equip it with Axe of Despair. This increases the attack of my Double Coston by 1000." "Attack of Double Coston equipped with Axe of Despair, 2800." "So now my Double Coston will attack your Zombie Master." The two ghosts latched onto the Zombie master, squeezing it and rendering it helpless. Then they sliced it with the Axe of Despair and Carl's life points dropped to 1400. "This duel's just about over, but I can't finish you off yet, so I'll end my turn."

Carl picked up his card. The Dark Creator. This card could save him the duel if he got lucky and moved cautiously. If he had five or more Dark Attribute monsters in his graveyard and no monsters on his side of the field, he could special summon it from his hand, and he would be safe until he could figure out how to turn the tables. All he needed was for Jake to destroy his Soul Absorbing Bone-Tower. That would put the fifth Dark Attribute monster in his graveyard and empty his field. However, he couldn't run the risk that Jake wouldn't summon another monster on his next turn. Also, with the Eye of Truth in play, Jake could see his hand, and Jake was no dummy. He wouldn't knowingly allow Carl to Special Summon the Dark Creator. Carl would need luck, skill and, if the draw permitted it, a backup. "I'll place one monster face-down in defense mode and end my turn."

"Then it's time for me to finish you." Jake's arm started glowing brighter as he drew the top card off his deck. Without looking at the card Jake added, "But before I do that, I'd like to ask you something Carl. Why do you seem to be enjoying yourself so much? I should be having fun; I started this duel. But you have to worry about yourself and your family, so why are you so relaxed-er-well not relaxed but… you know… ecstatic?" Carl shrugged. "I love dueling, especially with my Zombie Deck. And I never thought I'd actually be able to play the game with holographics. This is the coolest thing that's ever happened in my life even given the circumstances-no, especially given the circumstances." Jake's smile softened to be friendlier. "That's what I thought." He said. "And allow me to assure you that even though I will win this duel, you shall end up winning much more in the end." Carl glared at that. "Look, just because I'm having fun doesn't mean I'd be willing to barter with anyone evil." Jake mocked a feeling of being insulted. "Me? Evil? Come now, I'm not evil. You know me Carl. You're the one who gave me my Fiend Deck. Surely you're not suggesting you gave a Fiend Deck to a fiend, are you?" Jake laughed, though not as cruelly as before. "Trust me on this one Carl; when Corbak speaks to you, you'll listen."

"And if you don't believe me, then allow me to end this duel and this conversation. Since Double Coston counts as two tributes for the Tribute Summon of a Dark Attribute monster, I can sacrifice it to summon Earthbound Immortal Ccapac Apu." The mark on Jakes arm glowed brighter. A large object that looked much like a fist appeared in the sky above them. Glowing, purple lights flew up and into it, until finally it seemed to explode. Then the large, black and blue form of Earthbound Immortal Ccapac Apu appeared, rising to enormous heights. "Attack of Earthbound Immortal Ccapac Apu, 3000." "As you should know, Earthbound Immortal Ccapac Apu has the ability to attack your life points directly, and since I know there is nothing you can do to stop the onslaught, this duel is over. Earthbound Immortal Ccapac Apu, give the Deck Builder a demonstration of his future power!" The great monstrosity loomed over Carl and struck. Carl, knowing he was beaten, just stared and said softly, "Oh, zed."

Carl's life points dropped to 0 and the Mark of Sepulchos, rather than disappearing, closed in on him. "Remember how I said when you lost you were going to come with me whether you wanted to or not?" Jake asked watching as Carl clutched his heart and started pounding against the barriers of the Mark. "Well, your soul is currently being separated from your body. When all is said and done you will be rendered completely helpless, at least until we reach Corbakkan." Carl, futilely pushing against the Mark of Sepulchos with all his might and cried out again, "OH, ZED!" Then he went limp. The Mark faded and Carl's body fell to the ground while Jake twirled around a card with Carl's picture on it.


	5. A Father's Fury

Chapter 3

A Father's Fury

As Jake hurried down the stairs dragging Carl's limp form behind him, he heard the sound of voices down the staircase. _That's not right_, he thought. _Unless those are my minions, there shouldn't be anyone left with a soul after I summoned Earthbound Immortal Ccapac Apu._ Cautiously he pulled himself toward the sounds. When he rounded the corner he saw the same man who met him at the door creaming one of his minions, and it wasn't the same minion he had originally sent out to duel… which meant he had lost.

There was now no doubt in Jake's mind that Mr. Colburn was a chosen one, but he couldn't face him yet. His mission right now was to get the Deck Builder to Corbak, and even though Mr. Colburn didn't have magical powers there was still a chance, albeit a slim chance, he could beat Jake. He could not afford to take that chance at such a crucial juncture.

"Simon," Jake called to the one man he had left not currently engaged in a duel, "Grab Tom's body and card and let's get out of here." "Hey," called Jordan (the one dueling), "what about me?" "You're stuck dueling. Beat your opponent and you can work your way back to Corbakkan and claim your reward. Fail…" Jake shrugged. "Fail and it's your own funeral."

"Not so fast," Mr. Colburn yelled, "Where do you think you're going? Hand over my son at once or I'll tear you to splinters." "You," Jake said pointedly, "aren't in any position to make demands. By the time you're done dueling, my cohort and I will be long gone. Let's go Simon." And with that Jake and Simon dragged Tom and Carl's bodies into their car and started to drive off. Mr. Colburn yelled a long string of threats, challenges, and swear words, which was not his custom.

"Give it up, old man," Jordan said. "Jake isn't going to turn that car around. The only thing left is to end this duel. And when last I looked it was my turn." Jordan examined the field. His side had a Wall of Revealing Light, which could protect him from any monsters whose attack points were equal to or less than 3000, and a Mark of Orichalcos. On Mr. Colburn's side of the field, there were two face-down spell/trap cards, a defense-position Criosphinx (2400DEF), and a face-down defense position monster. However, Jordan had a fair idea what that face-down monster was. Unless Mr. Colburn had suddenly changed his strategy, the face-down monster was Neo-Spacian Grand Mole, which had been returning monsters to his hand since the start of the game. Jordan's life points were down to 4500, while Mr. Colburn's life points were still at 7100.

"Alright then," Jordan said. "Since I don't have any monsters and you have at least one, I can special summon Cyber Dragon onto my field. And thanks to the Mark of Orichalcos, I can put it in a back row of card zones that are safe guarded from your attacks as long as there's a monster in the front row." A large, white, serpent-like machine appeared. "Attack of Cyber Dragon, 2100." "Next, my Cyber Dragon will gain a power boost from my Mark of Orichalcos. " The Mark of Orichalcos fixated itself to the forehead of the Cyber Dragon, and it seemed to morph, becoming twice as sinister as it had been. "Attack of Cyber Dragon increased to 2600." "Next, I'll summon Biofalcon onto my front row." A gray robot about the size of a man and in the shape of falcon appeared between the Cyber Dragon and the Criosphinx. "Attack of Biofalcon, 1700." "And it will also gain extra attack points from the Mark." The Biofalcon also gained the Mark of Orichalcos. Then it reared up giving it the appearance of challenging its enemies to come and face it if they dared. "Attack of Biofalcon increased to 2200." But it seemed as though Mr. Colburn didn't register any of this; he simply gazed out after his son. Jordan looked on with glee fully believing he had taken back charge of the duel. "Now, Cyber Dragon, destroy Criosphinx!"

Mr. Colburn suddenly seemed to snap to attention. With a fire in his eyes he yelled out, "I activate my trap card, Ordeal of a Traveler! With this in play, you have to select a card in my hand and guess whether it's a monster, spell, or trap. If you're right, your attack goes through, but if you're wrong the attack is negated and your Cyber Dragon gets returned to your hand." Jordan grimaced. Apparently, the loss of his son hadn't weakened but rather enhanced this man's determination to win. Selecting a card he called out, "Spell." Mr. Colburn shook his head. "Looks like Cyber Dragon is going back to your hand." The mystogram of Ordeal of a Traveler glowed brightly and Cyber Dragon disappeared. "And now my Criosphinx's special ability activates, forcing you to discard a card since a monster was returned from the field to your hand." Jordan discarded his only other card angrily and snapped, "I end my turn."

Mr. Colburn drew his card but didn't look directly at it. Instead he saw what it was out of the corner of his eye while keeping his furious gaze fixed on Jordan. "I activate my other trap card, Pyramid of Light. With it in play, I can pay 1000 life points to special summon Andro Sphinx and Sphinx Teleia to the field." As Mr. Colburn's life points dropped to 6100, two sphinxes, one with the head of a lion and the body of a man and the other with the head of a woman and the body of a lioness, appeared side by side. "Attack of Andro Sphinx, 3000. Attack of Sphinx Teleia, 2500." "Next, I'll activate Giant Trunade. This card returns all other spell/trap cards on the field to their owners' hands." A great whirlwind blew around them and when it dissipated, the only spell/trap left in play was the Mark of Orichalcos. "When Pyramid of Light is removed from the field Andro Sphinx and Sphinx Teleia are removed from play, but that's actually a good thing, because when Andro Sphinx and Sphinx Teleia are destroyed at the same time, I can special summon Thenian The Great Sphinx from my hand or deck." Mr. Colburn's life points dropped to 5600 and his two sphinxes fused together to create a creature with a man's torso but the head and body of a lion. "Attack of Thenian The Great Sphinx, 3500." "Furthermore, I can pay 500 life points to give Thenian an additional 3000 attack points during the turn he's summoned." "Attack of Thenian The Great Sphinx increased to 6500." By now Jordan was panicking. Not only had Carl's father done all of this without moving his gaze away from Jordan, but Jordan now realized there was nothing he could do to stop the coming onslaught. Scarier still was the fact that this shouldn't be possible. The real Andro Sphinx, Sphinx Teleia, and Thenian the Great Sphinx were Chaos Spawn; the real cards shouldn't exist and the duel disk should've recognized these as fakes, but for some reason it hadn't and he was about to pay for it. "I now flip summon Neo-Spacian Grand Mole." Mr. Colburn's face-down defense card was replaced by a brave looking mole with strange, drill-like armor. "Attack of Neo-Spacian Grand Mole, 900." "Yes, but whenever Neo-Spacian Grand Mole battles, I can return both it and the opposing monster to their owner's hands instead of conducting battle damage. Grand Mole, attack Biofalcon and return it to his hand!" The Neo-Spacian Grand Mole's armor morphed so that the drill was on its head. Then, spinning rapidly, it flew at the Biofalcon and the two disappeared in a flash of light. "And without your Biofalcon, there is nothing stopping Thenian from attacking your life points directly, so now, Thenian The Great Sphinx smash this murderer into oblivion!" Jordan screamed like a girl, but there was no one who could save him as his life points fell to 0 and the Mark of Orichalcos closed in on him.

As Jordan's soul started to slip away, he saw Mr. Colburn standing over him. "Know this; I will save my son and the rest of my family, even if I have to destroy an army of you creeps!" But, having accepted his fate Jordan just grinned maliciously, giggled, and replied, "Good, because you'll have to." And with that Jordan fell to the ground, and the Mark of Orichalcos fell out of his duel disk with his face stamped onto it still grinning.

But Mr. Colburn did not register the eerie manner in which Jordan left this world. Instead, he ran outside and yelled Carl's name as loud as he could. Then he yelled his wife's name louder than he'd known he could. And then he yelled out the name of his youngest son, Nathanael, a child with down syndrome- so perpetually young and so much closer to God's heart than anyone else's- and he yelled his name even louder than he'd yelled his wife's. But he received no reply except for the wind. His voice too hoarse to yell anymore, he fell to the ground still muttering their names, and then, he cried.


	6. An Impossible Offer

Chapter Four

An Impossible Offer

_I am dreaming. No; I am remembering. My life is not flashing before me; however one particular memory has invaded my mind and is giving me no peace._

_It is the memory of our first night._

_I am talking to _her_. I am not quite certain what all we are talking about; the memory is hazy. I do know that we are not talking about the subject we told our parents we were going to. That's because, although we called each other with the intention of talking about the book we were writing together, we always seemed to end up talking about something else instead. We don't really care though, because although we haven't told each other yet, we just want to be able to hear each other's voices because we love each other._

_I hear her mention something about school. I don't remember what it was, but I do remember my reply: that her comment does not apply to me because I'm homeschooled. There is a brief pause after she acknowledges this and then she speaks again, catching me completely off guard. This part of our conversation that night, I remember perfectly._

"_Okay, um, this is going to sound really awkward, but, um, do you have a crush on anybody?" Oh, man, I sure do, and so does she and we are such chickens about it. But in the end, we both find out that we love each other. But that was then and this is now, I remind myself. She did love me. But now…_

* * *

><p>When Carl came around, the first thing he noticed was that he felt incredibly stiff. Slowly, he forced his eyes to open… and then immediately wished he hadn't.<p>

The room Carl was in, if indeed he was still alive and not in Hell, was the most daemonic room he'd ever seen. Although everything seemed carved out of gold and precious gems, it also seemed as though everything was serpentine. Statues of snakes rearing up to attack, pictures of snakes on the walls, snake heads built into the columns.

The next thing he noticed was the hard altar-like structure he was lying on. No; not alter-_like._ It _was_ an alter, very similar to those of the ancient Aztecs, where pagans would rip out the hearts of living victims and burn them (the hearts, not the victims) as an offering to one of their gods. Then, seeing the robed man standing over him, Carl had a wild but understandable idea that that might be what was going on. What if some madman following the religion of the ancient Aztecs had brought him here to offer him as a sacrifice to one of the Aztec gods or, judging by the number of snakes, to Satan himself?

But the man wasn't holding a knife. Nor did he have extremely long fingernails like the one creep in Indiana Jones. In fact, despite the ceremonial robe he was wearing and the room they were in, the man did not seem in any way creepy; to the contrary, his face looked kind, and for a moment, albeit a short moment, Carl almost, emphasis on almost, forgot where he was.

Actually, though, Carl didn't really know where he was, other than that he was in a room filled with gold snakes. "Where am I?" he asked, though not as fiercely as he'd wanted to; his throat was very hoarse, as though he hadn't used it in years. "You're safe with me," the man said in a very charming voice. "My name is Corbak, and this place is my home and namesake, Corbakkan."

Corbak. Corbakkan. Jake! Carl bolted upright. "You-ˮ But he didn't get any further, because he was immediately overwhelmed by a terrible headache. Corbak gently pushed him back down, laughing lightly and shushing him. "You shouldn't try to sit up so quickly after having your soul restored to your body."

After he had sufficiently recovered from the pain, Carl stared at this strange, gentle man. How could someone seem so kind and caring and yet at the same time talk about restoring souls to bodies as though it was no big deal? Moreover, how could someone so… heavenly in manner be in such an abominable place like this?

Corbak spoke again. "There, now try again, slowly this time." Slowly, though more due to hesitation than obedience, Carl sat up. "Deck Builder, I welcome you to my home. I apologize for the roughness of my subordinates, but it was urgent that I speak with you immediately. You see, I have a proposal for you."

That was when Carl figured out what was going on. In reality, this man was neither kind nor gentle. It was an act. He wanted Carl to think he was a really nice guy so that he could convince Carl to do something bad. No, worse than that; something evil. After all, wasn't that what Satan had done since the beginning of time; make deals with people that he couldn't fool? After all, Adam wasn't fooled by the snake; Eve was fooled, and Adam followed her example in full knowledge that it was a bad idea, making his sin all the worse.

"No deal," Carl said as he stood up. Corbak raised an eyebrow in amusement. "I haven't even said what I'm offering or what I'm asking for. At the very least, hear me out before you turn me away." "I don't have to hear you out," Carl replied sharply, if not loudly (his throat was still sore). "In a place like this, it doesn't matter how charming you are; you're bad news, and I refuse to help you in any way. My piece having been said, I will take my leave, unless of course you intend to hold me captive." "Oh, no," Corbak said laughing lightly, though not as lightly as before. "We here may be bad news, but we aren't completely devoid of honor. You are free to leave if you so wish." Carl started to walk toward what appeared to be an exit. "Although you might find swimming the distance a bit difficult."

Carl stopped as quickly as he had started. The first thing he noticed was Corbak's calmness had seemed to crack for a short moment and give way to something sinister. The second thing he noticed was Corbak's statement about "swimming the distance." "I'd have to swim?" "Why, yes," Corbak replied, bringing his voice back under control. "Didn't I tell you? Corbakkan is an island."

Carl gritted his teeth. Corbak may have seemed nice, but he was obviously very cunning. "Of course," Corbak continued, "I would be more than happy to give a boat back to the mainland-ˮ "Let me guess," Carl interrupted. "You're not going to let me leave this place until I agree to do what you say." "No," Corbak said in a decidedly tired voice. "What I was going to say is that if you'll at least hear me out before refusing my proposal I will gladly have a boat take you back to the mainland.

Carl stopped and thought for a moment. For sure, he didn't really need to hear Corbak's proposal, because he already knew it would be bad. _But, _he thought, _if I don't listen, then I don't get to leave. Besides, surely just listening to what he has to say won't hurt. Yeah, that's it; I'll listen to whatever his proposal is, say "no," and leave—nothing to it._

"Alright," Carl grunted, "let's get this over with." "Oh, no, not here," Corbak replied. "This place is so depressing and you need food. Follow me." _In other words,_ Carl thought, _you want to butter me up first. Fine. Whatever. But I'm still going to say no._

Outside the "snake chamber" Carl found that Corbak's island really did seem appealing. It had, in one regard, everything necessary to be a tropical paradise and, in another regard, everything a techno geek could dream of. The basic layout of Corbakkan was that of your typical Hawaiian Island but with a temple in the middle instead of a volcano. The island would, from a distance, appear to have veins which, upon closer inspection, were actually very technological buildings and hallways that led to every part of the island.

Upon reaching a sort of techno-tropical restaurant, Corbak ordered that "the food that had been prepared" for Carl be brought out. Carl expected many possibilities, most of which would not have impressed him, especially since seaside restaurants are known for seafood, the food Carl most loathed. But of all the foods he expected to see placed in front of him, he certainly did not expect what the waiter brought. "Macaroni and cheese with polo sausage and, to drink, a special brew of frozen orange juice, milk and ice mixed in a blender, a brew that has no name. And for desert, one slice of cheese cake, and another of peanut butter pie."

Carl could not hide his amazement; indeed he was so stunned, that it didn't even occur to him that he needed to hide it. What were the chances, especially at a techno-tropical restaurant that the meal they just happened to prepare for him was his favorite? When it occurred to him that they might have somehow known what his favorite foods were, he dismissed that possibility due to the fact that up until now he had been under the impression that only he, his mother, and his grandmother had known the recipe for "special juice" as they called the strange but delicious orange slushy.

This added to Carl's annoyance. He had intended to avoid eating whatever it was Corbak intended on feeding him, but that's a difficult resolve to keep when you haven't eaten a good meal in days and your favorite foods just got offered to you. Indeed, Carl's resolve not to eat melted rather quickly, I am ashamed to say.

After Carl had unceremoniously, though certainly not sloppily, begun to chow down and after taking several sips from some sort of fruity concoction, Corbak plunged into conversation. "Now then, Carl, I presume you have many questions concerning what this is about, and I shall attempt to answer them. I am the head of a secret society of techno-sorcerers dedicated to taking and taming the powers of the daemonic realm, hence the reason we call ourselves the Order of Daemons. We have discovered a way this may be possible, but it requires political, financial and mili-… militarial… militant-(yes that's the word)-and militant manipulation on a global scale. Standing in our way is a prophet, chosen to combat the return of ancient sorcery."

Carl raised an eyebrow. "You're, uh, still trying to get me to join you, right? Because all I'm hearing is more reasons not to like you," he said through cheese stained lips. "Now, now," Corbak chuckled, "I have to explain what we're doing before I can explain why it's in your best interests to help us.

"Now where was I? Oh, yes, I was telling you about my former best friend Solus, the prophet. In any case, his first, and probably only, major prophecy to date tells of a group of people who shall be the greatest fighters for and against my society and they'll all bear some sort of relationship with a person known as the Deck Builder or the Dark Star, although that relationship may not be a friendly one. And Carl, I know now, for a fact, that you are the Deck Builder."

Carl shrugged and sipped his orange slushie/smoothie/thing. "I've kinda figured out that your sorcery stuff is somehow connected to dueling, but even then, what makes you think that of all of the obsessive Yu-gi-oh duelists in the world that _I_ am this 'Deck Builder'? Lots of people build lots of decks stronger than the ones I make (although I won't deny being very advanced in the art of deck construction)." "Ah," Corbak said waving a finger, "I know it's you because you're the only one who fits the bill. The prophecy states that although some of these 'chosen duelists' will make their own decks, most will obtain decks that were made by the Deck Builder. Jake is a chosen one-this I know for a fact-and you are the one who made the original version of the Fiend deck he now uses; ergo, you must be the Deck Builder, the Dark Star."

"So basically," Carl said with polo sausage in his mouth, "you want me to find out which of the people I know are chosen ones and bring them to you." "To help me fight Solus, yes," Corbak finished. Carl swallowed the polo sausage and reached for the peanut butter pie adding, "But you still haven't stated what you want to offer me, other than my favorite foods." _And until you do,_ he thought to himself,_ you won't allow me to say "no" and let me leave._ "Yes, no doubt you're just dying for me to finish blabbering so you can say 'no' and leave," Corbak stated, again hinting at the fact that he could read Carl's mind. "Very well, then; in addition to wealth, power, and all the other things that come with world domination, I wish to make you a more personal offer. I can make your ex-girlfriend Petunia fall in love with you again."

Carl choked on his cheesecake, a feat rarely known to man. Had he heard that right? Just how long had this guy been watching him? When he stopped coughing he shook his head saying, "That's impossible, even using black magic-especially using black magic. She wouldn't really love me; it would be mind control. That's not what I want." "On the contrary," Corbak said with that I-know-a-secret look people sometimes get, "I know how to make her love you without taking control of her mind at all. All we have to do is erase every memory she has of her new boyfriend-if she never knew him then she would never have fallen in love with him, ergo she would still be in love with you. In other words, she would love you because she wanted to, just as she used to. That is what you want, isn't it?"

Carl could think of nothing to say. Oh, there were millions of reasons he could think of for why he should still say "No", but there were now a rapidly growing number of reasons why he desperately wanted to say "Yes". "I know this is quite a bit for you to swallow," Corbak joked as Carl suddenly experienced a lack of an appetite, "so I had someone arrange some living quarters for you to think it over in private. I shall expect your answer in a couple of hours. A day, at most." Carl allowed several waiters (Were they sorcerers?) to lead him to his room.

After Carl was out of earshot, Corbak motioned to Jake who was sitting at a barstool nearby. "Get the chanters and put them to work outside Carl's room; I want to make sure the daemonic realm has total control over his decision." "Understood sir," Jake said before marching off. Seeing that no one else was around, Corbak allowed himself to glare. He moved his fingers along his lips feeling the pain of smiling too much. "Oh, the price of propaganda."

* * *

><p>"<em>What?" I ask completely caught off guard. "A crush," she repeats. "Do you have a crush on anybody?" Flustered, I answer, honestly but curtly, "Um, well, uh… well, yes." "Anybody I know?" I roll my eyes at the irony, grateful that she can't see me. "Yes, I'd have to say you know her."<em>

_At this point, I want to know how this started, and because I'm a big coward, I start looking for a way to change the subject. "Why are you asking?" It's not an unpredictable question considering she had switched to this very awkward topic rather suddenly. "Well, it's just that that's happening a lot at my school," she replies smoothly; "guys falling for girls, girls falling for guys-being homeschooled, I didn't know whether or not that kind of thing had reached you yet." Homeschool. Of course. A few moments ago I reminded her that I was homeschooled. "Oh, well, yeah it happens to me; I just don't notice when happens to other people." "I see."_

_I believe that will be the end of it for now, but it isn't. "Is she in our fiddling group?" I decide on a very cowardly tactic to get her to drop the subject: I remind her that the only girls I know and that I know that she knows are in our fiddling group, ergo the said girl must be in the fiddling group, and she should have figured that out herself. I say this to make her feel like she's saying stupid things, which I immediately regret. But she just shrugs it off, acknowledging that she should have known that. "Alright, I get it."_

"_Has she advanced to the next level of Suzuki?" Now I'm panicking. "Why are you asking that?" I ask, though only because I need time to come up with a loop-hole. See, the only person that I know has advanced is the girl I'm talking to; if I were to answer this question, it would essentially be telling her. "I'm just trying to narrow it down," she replies. I then come up with a simple solution to the dilemma; I ask who all has advanced. "Well, uh, me (of course you know that)-ˮ suspicious "-Julia, I think,… and Brianna… yeah, I think that's it." She mentioned herself first. That could be a good sign,… or it could just be a natural reaction to think of herself first and nothing more. Still. But I'm a coward, so I just say, "Yes."_

_There's a short pause. Then she tells me that she can't figure it out and asks me to just tell her. I tell her that I don't really want to. Actually, that's not technically true; I do want to tell her desperately, but I'm afraid to. There is a back and forth argument, and she is trying very hard -almost desperately?- to get me to tell. I finally come to the conclusion that I will not get out of this without giving her an answer, and I've promised myself I won't lie- that would cause major problems. "Okay. (Pauses to take breath.) It's you." Those two words- I had to say them quickly and slur them together to get them to come out, but I said it. There is what sounds like a gasp or a release of a long held breath on the other end of the line. "That's what I thought you were going to say.-ˮ not encouraging "-Well, this is going to sound really awkward, but I have a crush on you too."_

* * *

><p>Carl was tossing and turning on the bed in his guest room. Although he had been given privacy to think, or perhaps because of it, he was finding it very difficult to think rationally. That first night especially kept playing over in his mind. He knew he shouldn't listen to Corbak, he knew Corbak had terrible plans, he knew that God would want him to choose wisely and to love the LORD.<p>

And yet…

Memories of his past with Petunia plagued him constantly threatening to drive him insane. In fact they already had. In the past few months, the only time he'd found peace was when he was playing games, Yu-gi-oh especially. Games had become his pain relief, his drug or alcohol; certainly they had become as much an addiction to him as anything else could have. The only real cure to this pain, he was convinced would be to get Petunia back. Corbak could make that possible.

And yet…

It was wrong. He shouldn't even be considering this. It should be an obvious choice. Would he choose a girl and some petty, temporary pleasure over God, over true joy in eternity? Looking at it that way, it seemed like an easy decision.

And yet…

* * *

><p>Jake stood in front of the chanters and listened. Not because he wanted to hear all of the insidious things they were saying; far from, he couldn't understand any of what they were saying. Not like he should; they were really spouting little intelligent speech. Mostly, all they were doing in terms of vocabulary was saying a lot of gibberish that sounded sinister: things like "kiklamesho tomo ku", and "eglash zemal tenokoso".<p>

No, the only reason Jake was standing there was because Corbak had told him to. Corbak had made Jake his second-in-command; of all Corbak's minions, Jake stood the most to gain and the most to lose. At this point, when it came to things Jake did not understand, he had to put his faith in Corbak and hope he was smart enough not to sink the ship, so to speak.

Even so, there _was_ something almost poetic about the chanting: poetic and yet nasty. Perhaps that was what drew the demons to it- the fact that it, like them, was a perversion of nature, both sinister and charming. Whatever the reason, the chanting was said to increase the presence and power of the daemonic realm, which consequently should also enhance Carl's deep, sinful desires.

It wouldn't be long now; there was no way Carl could maintain his religious beliefs with the daemonic realm cracking down on his, by far, most tender spot. Any second now, he would come out that door saying- _slam_ -wow, good timing.

Jake signaled the chanters to cease and disperse quickly and quietly; if Carl found out too soon that they had played dirty, Carl would probably rethink his decision to join the Order of Daemons. Then, Jake walked over to Carl who was standing on a balcony looking at the sun set over the sea. For a moment Carl said nothing. Then, without turning, he asked, "What did he give you?" Jake raised an eyebrow. "What?" "What did he promise you? There was a time you wouldn't have joined him. How did he convince you?"

Jake wasn't entirely sure, but this sounded like a trap to trip him up. He would have to answer this question cautiously. "After the Jamboree, I was trapped at home, literally. My parents had practically put me a cage. I wasn't allowed to go anywhere, except maybe Grandma's, and I wasn't allowed to do anything but school work. Corbak promised me freedom, and he gave it to me. Corbak always keeps his promises." Carl scoffed. "You call this freedom?" Jake shrugged. "By comparison, yes; Corbak gives his servants freedom from the chains that hold them down, regardless of whether those chains are physical or emotional."

Carl turned to Jake and looked him straight in the eye. "Do you regret your decision?" Jake thought for a moment and then, meeting Carl's eye contact with confidence, replied, "No, I don't. I did at first, but I don't now. I am content with my life the way it is." Carl nodded slowly and turned back toward the sun set. It seemed to mock him with its beauty. Or maybe it symbolized the sun setting on his old way of life. Either way, Carl had made his decision.

"Go tell your master, I accept."


	7. Carl and Brennden: Zombies vs Psychics

Chapter Five

Carl and Brennden Round One: Zombies vs. Psychics

Carl Colburn? As far as Brennden was concerned, the boy was little more than a challenge that had been overcome. Carl was Petunia's ex-boyfriend; he knew that. But Brennden had "faced" Carl, defeated him, and won the girl of his dreams, unlike other boys who would have waited for a weak point in their relationship before making a move to split them.

Did Brennden feel sorry for Carl? Sometimes, when he bothered to think about it, yes. To have lost a girl like Petunia must feel terrible, and it was Brennden's understanding that Carl was very similar to himself. Nonetheless, Brennden loved Petunia, always had. He and Carl had clashed for her heart with neither one "cheating" and Brennden had come out on top. This being the case, Brennden didn't see that there was any point in worrying about Carl anymore.

But that was before the strange "instant death epidemic" that took place in the nearby city of Charleston. It was the strangest thing Brennden had ever heard of; apparently purple flames simply came out of nowhere, engulfing southern Charleston, which is the less populated area. Videos had come out showing a reflection of those flames in the sky forming a very strange shape. Conspiracy theorists were convinced that it was the Mark of the Giant as seen in the Yu-gi-oh 5Ds TV show. Whatever it was, after it was gone, a large number of people near the center of the disaster were found mentally dead with no explanation.

All of this was strange in and of itself, but what really got Petunia's attention was that two people who were in the epidemic hadn't been found; David Colburn and his son Carl, whose house had been at the center of the strange phenomenon. Since hearing this, Petunia had been very upset. Brennden believed she blamed herself, as if she could have somehow prevented this by staying with Carl. Brennden was extremely hurt by all of this. He had tried to reassure Petunia, but it was no good.

A week later, he was mulling over his problem while waiting in the grocery store parking lot for his parents. He didn't hear the strange looking motorcycles outside, nor did he notice when they stopped behind his family's van, nor would he have cared had he noticed. But he did notice when someone yanked the van's door off, tossed it aside, and then pulled him out with such strength that his seat belt snapped. After this he was tossed headlong onto the pavement.

Brennden bounced to his feet and was immediately shocked by several things at the same time. First, he was shocked at the appearance of the tattooed freaks that'd attacked him. Second, he was startled by what appeared to be duel disks and duel runners. Thirdly, one of the bikers looked strangely familiar, but Brennden was unable to identify him. Lastly, but by far most shocking, Brennden realized he should be dead or, at least, unconscious; he had just been tossed onto the pavement headfirst and with extreme force. His skull should have cracked open or, if he was lucky, he should have suffered a concussion and/or fallen unconscious, but instead he had felt no pain, wasn't bleeding, and had jumped back up as a reflex before he realized he shouldn't be able to stand.

This last oddity seemed to be as much a surprise for Brennden's attackers as it was for Brennden. The one who looked somewhat familiar (and who had thrown him to the ground in the first place) turned to another one, and the two started a very sharp conversation with each other. "That should've-ˮ "I know." "But he's not-ˮ "I know." "How?" "I think you know." "You don't think-ˮ "I do." "Please tell me you're-ˮ "I wish I were."

Brennden, of course, had absolutely no idea what they were talking about, but hearing their voices helped remind him that these people had tried to kill him and that he probably shouldn't stick around. But when he turned to run, Brennden found out he was surrounded. And of course, the fact that he was (apparently) invincible had already slipped his mind.

The familiar-looking one groaned. "What can-ˮ "Oh, actually-ˮ "Stop interrupting me!" the first one yelled at his companion. "It's annoying." "Sorry," the other one said, not really sounding like he meant it. "Anyway, what I was going to say is that all we really have to do is toss him a duel disk. Then he'll no longer be under the prophecy's protection and you can slaughter him as you so wish."

At this point, Brennden, still stunned and very confused, turned to the two who were talking. "What's going on? What did I do to get you guys to hate me? I don't even know any of you." Even as he said it, he knew it was a lie. He did know the one who had spoken first from somewhere, but he didn't know where. Indeed, if he had doubted that he had seen this guy somewhere before, those doubts were crushed when the familiar guy laughed at him and said, "Come now Brennden; just because we never met doesn't mean we don't know each other." Just because they hadn't met? Who did Brennden know but hadn't met who would want him dead?

"Don't talk to him; toss him the duel disk and get it over with," the second one said impatiently. The first one nodded and pointed at one of the other tattooed weirdoes. "You; give him yours." The specified man pulled the duel disk off his arm and tossed it over to Brennden. Brennden studied it for a moment and then said, "I'm invincible as long as I don't put this on? Then I won't put this on." But the second guy, who Brennden now noticed had the same symbol on his right arm that the strange fires had made in Charleston, rolled his eyes and shook his head. "That doesn't matter. You've been given a duel disk; from now on you shall always be vulnerable." Turning back to Mister I-know-you-but-we-haven't-met, the tattoo-of-fire guy stated, "He's all yours."

Brennden started to back up, still holding the duel disk as the man who claimed to know him transformed his duel disk into… a lightsaber? and walked toward him. But then, the man, who Brennden was beginning to realize was just a boy about his age, stopped and frowned. "No," he said. The other guy looked at him quizzically. "ʽNo'? What do you mean 'no'?" "No, I can't kill him this way," replied the first. "It was one thing before I could see his face or before I knew he was a chosen one, but if I'm going kill him now, I'm going to do it sportsmanlike. You guys might want to back up."

The boy who wanted to kill Brennden held up his right arm, and a tattoo on it shaped somewhat similarly to a worm started to glow. The other tattooed people jumped back, and Brennden was about to do the same when his path was blocked by purple-black flames. The flames spread far and wide destroying anything in their path, and in the sky was a reflection of the flames as they formed the same symbol as the tattoo. _Just like the instant death epidemic in Charleston_, Brennden thought.

Brennden's adversary walked away from him for a few seconds and then turned around, his duel disk morphing back into its usual shape. "I offer you a fighting chance. If you duel me and defeat me, I'll be forced to retreat for a time during which you might be saved before I come demanding a rematch," he stated. "If you lose, however, your fate will not be very different from what would happen if I just killed you." "What if I refuse to duel?" Brennden asked watching his opponent warily. "Then I'll kill you right now; then I'll be able to get Petunia all the easier."

At the mention of Petunia's name, Brennden finally identified the boy standing in front of him. "Carl?" "Ding, ding, ding, I wondered whether or not you'd figure it out; after all, Petunia kept that picture of me in her locket for a long time," Carl replied, applauding sarcastically. "For your prize, I'll let you take the first turn." Brennden looked back at the duel disk. He didn't want to play games; he wanted answers. But if he didn't accept Carl's challenge, Carl would kill him outright, so Brennden activated the duel disk. Immediately, it set for 8000 life points and spat out 5 cards. "You've got a duel!"

Brennden drew a card from his deck and looked at his hand. After thinking for a moment, he declared, "I'm going to summon Psychic Commander in attack mode." A creature that looked like a tank with a robot's or alien's body sticking out appeared in front of Brennden. "Attack of Psychic Commander, 1400." "And before ending my turn, I'll place one card face-down on the field. That's all."

Carl raised his eyebrows. "How interesting," he said, drawing his card. "As for me, I'm going to play Tribute to the Doomed. This card causes me to discard a card in my hand and allows me to destroy a monster you control." Carl placed a card in his graveyard and a mummified hand dragged Psychic Commander into the ground. "Next, I'll summon Goblin Zombie." A rotting, greenish, humanoid creature appeared in front of Carl. "Attack of Goblin Zombie, 1100." "And now, Goblin Zombie will attack your life points directly!" The Goblin Zombie raised its claws and charged at Brennden. On instinct, Brennden raised his duel disk to block the attack, and found himself staggering under the weight of the Goblin Zombie's attack while his life points dropped to 6900. "And get this," Carl continued. "Goblin Zombie has a nasty special ability. If he inflicts battle damage to you, you must discard the top card of your deck to the graveyard." Brennden's deck ejected a card for him to place in his graveyard, but he didn't grab it at first. "That attack," he said slowly, "felt real—dangerous." "No, this isn't dangerous at all," Carl said sarcastically. "Except that whoever loses the duel will also lose their soul. No biggie." Brennden glared as he placed the top card of his deck in his graveyard. Carl was obviously having fun and too much of it for Brennden's liking. "I end my turn."

Brennden picked up his card and surveyed the field. Carl's move had certainly caught him off-guard, and Brennden could see that he wasn't playing against an amateur. However, Carl had made the mistake of leaving a really weak monster exposed, with no means of protection. And yet, Petunia had once described Carl as an ingenious strategist who built strong decks using various themes. Could this be a trick? Possibly, but Brennden chose to believe that Carl had simply spent too much time wrapped up in duel theory and not enough time on the duel field.

"I summon Absorbing Kid from the Sky." A fat boy with wings and the scowl of a spoiled brat appeared between Brennden and the Goblin Zombie. "Attack of Absorbing Kid from the Sky, 1300." "And now, Absorbing Kid from the Sky, attack the Goblin Zombie." Although that was a wise move strategically, Brennden felt as though he might throw up when he saw the Absorbing Kid from the Sky eat the Goblin Zombie like it was a gourmet meal, however Carl didn't even flinch. Shaking off his discomfort, Brennden went on declaring, "Not only will your life points drop by 200, but now Absorbing Kid from the Sky's effect activates, so now my life points increase by 300 times Goblin Zombie's level." Carl's life points dropped to 7800 and Brennden's life points increased to 8100. "There," Brennden said, "maybe now you'll realize that you're in over your head." "Maybe you're right, or maybe I'm one step ahead of you," Carl said still smiling. "After all, when Goblin Zombie is sent from the field to the graveyard, I can search my deck for a Zombie Type monster with 1200 defense points or less and add it to my hand." Doh. Brennden had underestimated his opponent two turns in a row, and he had no doubt it was going to cost him big time real soon. "I end my turn," he said lamely as Carl placed a card in his hand.

"In that case," Carl said, "this duel will be over soon. You may be a chosen one, but your skills betray your inexperience and unworthiness. Not only do you not deserve to be a chosen one, I intend to prove that you're not worthy to be Petunia's boyfriend." "This coming from the psychopath," Brennden spat out. Carl shrugged, waving his head from side to side as though conceding a point while at the same time preparing to make one of his own. In fact, that's exactly what he did. "Yes, this is coming from the newest member of the Order of Daemons, but I'd rather be a madman with the ability to protect my love than a goody-goody who couldn't ever hope to protect himself much less his girlfriend." Listening to this, Brennden started to wonder if this really was Carl. If it was, what happened to the noble boy who couldn't hurt a fly that Petunia used to talk about?

"Even so," Carl continued, "that move wasn't half bad. In fact I…" Carl stopped and his smile started to disappear as the wheels in his head started turning. "In fact… your deck seems, uh, so far, uh, exactly like one I once made… and gave to…" Brennden flinched visibly as Carl's eyes lit up in anger. "Petunia! She gave you my Budget Deck!" "Yes, well, uh, it wasn't your decision as to whether she kept it or passed it on," Brennden said, trying to remain calm. Really, he had hoped that Carl wouldn't figure out that he was dueling against a deck he built. Since he built it, Carl knew every card in Brennden's deck, but Brennden didn't know a thing about Carl's, so now Brennden would be at an even greater disadvantage than he already was. Brennden was beginning to realize just how much the odds were stacked against him.

Carl cooled off his temper saying, "It makes no difference. After I defeat you, I'll take back everything you had that belonged to me. So then, let's get back to the duel! I summon Paladin of the Cursed Dragon." A white rotting dragon with an undead knight riding it appeared. "Attack of Paladin of the Cursed Dragon, 1900." "Next I'll activate the Book of Life. This card let's me Special Summon Goblin Zombie from my graveyard and remove from play the Psychic Commander in yours." "Attack of Goblin Zombie 1100." "Furthermore, I'll play the Temple of the Sun spell card. So from now on, any monster I control that was Special Summoned from the graveyard gains 300 attack points." "Attack of Goblin Zombie increased to 1400." "Now, Goblin Zombie take your revenge!" Goblin Zombie raised its claws and struck at the Absorbing Kid from the Sky, destroying it and reducing Brennden's life points to 8000. Instinctively, Brennden reached for his trap card only to remember he couldn't activate it because Absorbing Kid from the Sky was a Fairy Type monster, not a Psychic Type. "Since my Goblin Zombie just inflicted battle damage, you must now discard the top card on your deck. And now, Paladin of the Cursed Dragon, attack Brennden's life points directly." The dragon-rider took aim and commanded his hideous steed to hurl lighting at Brennden. Brennden collapsed and his life points dropped to 6100. "My turn is over."

Slowly, Brennden stood up and drew a card. He had underestimated Carl one too many times already; he would not make that mistake again. "I activate the spell card Psy-Station. As long as this spell card remains active on the field, I can pay 500 life points every time I Normal Summon a Psychic Type monster in order to increase that monsters attack points by 300 and its level by 1. Next I'll summon Psychic Snail."…

* * *

><p>Twelve rounds into the duel and Jake was bored silly watching, when Corbak's voice intruded into his thoughts. <em>Your progress report is overdue.<em> Jake checked his watch. _Only by twenty seconds. _Corbak scoffed. _It would have been longer if I had not contacted you. Now, progress report._ Jake rolled his eyes and plunged in. _Brennden's a chosen one; Carl challenged him to a duel and was in total control until Brennden played a Wall of Revealing Light. Now they're at a standstill; they seem evenly matched._

Corbak cursed loudly, or at least, Jake assumed it was loudly; it's hard to determine pitch and volume over a mental communication. _I was afraid this would happen; ever since the fusion failed._ Yes, the fusion. Jake thought back to when Carl was first initiated into the Order of Daemons nearly a week earlier. Carl had agreed to join on the conditions that he be allowed to take revenge on Brennden and that Corbak make Petunia fall in love with him again. After that, he allowed their techno-sorcerers to stitch the Marks chosen for him into his skin and he was handed his deck and two mystical gems. As the Deck Builder, Carl's deck was supposed to be like Corbak's, completely infused with dark energies to make him incredibly powerful, but something had gone wrong; only two thirds of the deck was infused. As a result, Carl's deck had power, yes, but not full power.

Often it seemed as though the dark powers were just as confused about what had happened as the sorcerers were. Carl had spent a week training, but despite the fact that he was supposed to have as much control over his deck as Corbak, his deck continued to behave unpredictably. He was still an average duelist with little combat skill, and the entire Order was going crazy trying to figure out why.

Jake sat up straight. _Wait a minute, something's happening down there. I'll get back to you._ "I activate the Mark of Disiados!" Two grey circles with runes between them came spiraling down around the two combatants. Jake grinned, eager to see the power of Carl's Orichalcos offshoot. Lines bounced around inside the circle and formed a rough shape of a tombstone. "This field spell lets me discard 1, 2, or 3 cards from my hand once per turn, then you must discard twice as many cards from your deck and after that we both draw a card. Oh, and one more thing, the Mark of Disiados gives all of my monsters that were special summoned from the graveyard an additional 800 attack points." "Attack of Paladin of the Cursed Dragon increased to 3000. Attack of Zombie Master increased to 2900." _Ouch, just a tad short, _Jake thought._ Carl needs at least 3001 attack points to get past the Wall of Revealing Light._ Still, between Temple of the Sun and the Mark of Disiados, any of Carl's monsters that were special summoned from the graveyard would gain 1100 attack points. And Carl wasn't done yet. "Now I activate the effect of the Mark of Disiados. Now, I'll discard the three cards in my hand and you must discard six cards from your deck, then we each draw one card." Brennden's deck count was now to 23. It was only a matter of time before Brennden's deck was all drained out. "I activate the special ability of my Goldd, Wu-lord of Dark World! Since it was discarded from my hand to the graveyard by a card effect, it's special summoned to the field." "Attack of Goldd, Wu-lord of Dark World, 2300." "And of course, that will change quickly, since it was special summoned from the graveyard, the Mark of Disiados gives it an additional 800 attack points and the Temple of the Sun spell gives it another 300 to boot!" "Attack of Goldd, Wu-lord of Dark World increased to 3400." Jake sat up straight. Would Carl finally be able to attack? "Now, Goldd, Wu-lord of Dark World, attack Cure Mermaid!" "I activate my trap card; Draining Shield. So now, your attack is negated and I gain life points equal to your monster's attack points." Jake let his shoulders drop as Brennden's life points increased to 11600. There didn't seem to be any way to put a dent in his life points; if they were depleted, Brennden would just replenish them again. "I end my turn."

Brennden's turn. Brennden draws a card. Brennden further increases his life points by 800 using Cure Mermaid's ability. "And now I activate the effect of Psychic Lifetrancer; by removing a Psychic Type monster in my graveyard from play, I gain another 1200 life points." How many life points did this guy need anyway? He now had 13600! "Now I activate the Psychic Path spell card. By paying 800 life points, I can add two Psychic Type monsters that are removed from play to my hand." Now that was unexpected. As the possibilities started to play through Jake's head, he realized there was a danger if Brennden had the card he needed to pull it off. "I now summon Krebons in attack mode." "Attack of Krebons, 1200." "And now, since my level 2 Krebons is a Tuner monster, I'll have it tune with my level 7 Psychic Lifetrancer to form the level 9 Hyper Psychic Blaster!" A white half-man half-machine that was twice as tall as any of them took the place of the clown-like Krebons and the Psychic Lifetrancer. "Attack of Hyper Psychic Blaster, 3000." "And now I activate my trap card-ˮ Jake stood up, suddenly afraid. "-Assault Mode Activate!" "Uh, oh," Jake said. The duel was over now; Carl shouldn't have done things the fair and square way. The truth of his defeat seemed to have dawned on Carl too as his eyes widened in fear. "This trap card will allow me to sacrifice my Hyper Psychic Blaster to summon Hyper Psychic Blaster Assault Mode in its place." Jake watched as the Hyper Psychic Blaster morphed, receiving upgrades and taking an even more aggressive stance than before. "Attack of Hyper Psychic Blaster Assault Mode, 3500." "And when Hyper Psychic Blaster Assault Mode destroys an opponent's monster in battle, you take damage equal to the destroyed monster's attack points. So now go, Hyper Psychic Blatter-uh-Blasser-uh-blablabla, just attack the Goldd!" The duel disk comprehended what Brennden was trying to say, and the massive cyborg smashed the Wu-lord into the ground and knocked Carl's life points to 0.

Jake smacked his head. _Progress report—it looked like Carl was about to win but he just lost. Orders? _Corbak cursed again. _Get him back here; we still need him, he's not expendable yet. All the same, this time we'd better find out what his problem is _before_ letting him go off and duel. _

Jake stood up as the Mark of the Worm began to fade. He noticed Carl yell out the predictable promise that he'd return and have his revenge. Unfortunately, Jake knew that sooner or later Carl would have to defeat Brennden; as long as Brennden lived, Carl would not help them-it was as simple as that. Hopping onto his duel runner, Jake zoomed past Brennden to where Carl was laying on the ground. Brennden didn't make a move to stop him as Jake picked up Carl and placed him on the duel runner; he probably knew that there was nothing he could do anyway. But he did start asking the predictable questions.

"What did you guys do to him? I may not have known Carl myself, but I definitely know Petunia, and I know how highly she thought of Carl." Jake rolled his eyes. "We didn't do anything to him; he chose this. You and your girlfriend are the ones who drove him to this, so don't blame us; all we did was take advantage of the madman you created." Jake jumped onto his duel runner as he finished saying, "Make no mistake, if there's one thing you can count on, it's that Carl will be back for you very soon, and there's nothing you can do to save yourself."

Having said his piece, Jake and the four minions he brought with him zoomed off, on their way back to Corbakkan leaving Brennden standing defiantly in the distance. However, even as they did, they failed to notice the man in the car who started to follow them. Mr. Colburn's face was as cold as ice and his eyes held a fire hotter than the sun. As he started to gain on his prey, he spoke in a low, nothing-to-lose tone. "I may not know who you are or why you're doing this, but you murdered my wife and youngest son, and kidnapped my eldest. I will stop you, and I will save my son," he declared, though he knew they couldn't hear them.


	8. High Speed Gun Duel

**...I just realized that I've had this chapter ready for months and never posted it. I only have two things to say on that note.**

**1) Oops!**

**2) Enjoy!**

**-C. Richard Crawg**

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><p>Chapter Six<p>

High Speed Gun Duel

After they had gone a few miles, Jake started to get suspicious about the car following behind them. Taking the same turn as they did once could be nothing and twice could be coincidence, but when the car matched their turn a third time, still keeping pace with them despite the traffic of Newark's streets, Jake was certain they were being followed. Jake opened a mental communication to two of his underlings; _mayday, mayday, we're being followed: discover the identity of our pursuer and eliminate him._

Mr. Colburn noticed that two of the odd motorcycles were falling back, having probably noticed him, but he hadn't thought ahead this far; now that a confrontation was coming, what could he do? He was unarmed, driving at over 50 mph, and he doubted they were coming for a duel. What's worse, he recognized one of the two motorcyclists to be Simon, the only one of Jake's minions who'd escaped with him when they kidnapped Carl.

Even as he thought this, Mr. Colburn watched Simon pull alongside of him. Simon had been expecting to see a government agent or one of Solus's duelists. When he saw Mr. Colburn inside the car, his mouth immediately fell open. "You have got to be kidding me!" Mr. Colburn lip read what Simon said, and knew the only thing left to do was fight. Swerving sideways, Mr. Colburn attempted to ram Simon into a building. Finding himself losing control of his duel runner, Simon punched some buttons causing an incredibly tough dome to form around the runner, allowing Simon to crash into the wall without dying.

Mr. Colburn's eyes shot up. They could do that? He glanced at his duel disk and wondered what secrets it held outside of dueling. At that point he noticed that one of the buttons on the duel disk was flashing.

At the same time, Simon was ramming through wall after wall trying to regain control of his duel runner. _Jake, Jake, you're not gonna believe it! It's his father; Carl's father is the pursuer. _Jake cursed. At any other time, this might be good- he could have worked on bringing Mr. Colburn into the Order of Daemons –but now, he was busy; he needed to get back to Corbakkan ASAP and Mr. Colburn would only get in the way. _Eliminate him—no check that—get him off our tale. Our primary objective is to reach Corbakkan. We cannot have this fool following us; we'll work on him later._

The minion on Mr. Colburn's right morphed his duel runner so that it had a Gatling gun attachment on either side. Then he pulled up in front of Mr. Colburn and turned around to face him while driving backwards. Taking a gamble, Mr. Colburn pushed the flashing button on his duel disk. "Battle Royal Mode engaged. Please select duel disk form." Mr. Colburn held his duel disk in front of him and pushed a random button just as the Gatling guns opened fire. The glass in the wind shield was shattered and the car went spiraling out of control.

The minion (whose name was Aaron) watched with grim satisfaction as he zoomed back toward Jake. _Pack it up and forget about it, because this guy's done for._ Jake sighed. _Didn't I tell you not to kill him if it could be avoided? Oh well, I guess he was more trouble than he was worth anyway. We'd best just move on._

But back at the "wreck", the man in question was still alive. His duel disk had morphed into a shield, and although his legs were in poor condition after the wind shield shattered, his head and upper body were in no way harmed. Mr. Colburn tried to start the car, only to feel intense pain shoot through his legs, but he refused to give up. Starting up the car, he drove past bewildered spectators and back into the traffic. By this point, Jake and his minions were nowhere to be seen and Mr. Colburn almost gave up when suddenly Simon finally managed to come crashing out of the building he'd been stuck in for so long. Having heard that Mr. Colburn was dead, Simon didn't bother checking and instead focused on catching up with the others, so Mr. Colburn followed behind him.

Along the way, Mr. Colburn started experimenting with the various buttons on the duel disk. The first thing he noticed was that it had spat out six cards. Mr. Colburn wondered who could possibly want to mess around with holographics in the middle of a shoot out, but he picked up the cards anyway. After that he tried to find an appropriate weapon. The Gatling gun and Bazooka were too big for a driver to use, and the laser sword, axe, whip, etc. were all close range weapons. The shield had saved his life once, but it wouldn't let him return fire. Then he found it; the laser pistol was a small, ranged weapon that he could use with fair efficiency.

Around that time, his duel disk beeped at him. "Please play a card, end turn or shut down duel system." Mr. Colburn rolled his eyes. "Fine, sure, I'll play… this monster face down in defense mode and one card face-down and end my turn." The way the duel disk flashed, Mr. Colburn almost thought it had blinked in surprise. "Thank you, your next turn will begin automatically in one minute."

Around that time, Simon caught up with Aaron at the back of Jake's mob. Aaron turned just enough to acknowledge Simon's return… and to notice the car without a windshield in the rearview mirror. "Impossible."

Mr. Colburn opened fire. He wasn't a particularly good aim, especially not while driving, but he managed to score a couple of glancing blows off Aaron's duel runner. _I thought you said he was dead!_ Jake said outraged. _Go back there and finish him off and this time, I want you to bring back a body with you, or whatever's left of one. _Aaron thought of throwing back a snide comment about how he thought Jake hadn't wanted Mr. Colburn dead before, but that wouldn't have gotten him any closer to a promotion.

Aaron and Simon flipped their duel runners around, and linked them remotely to the other duel runners so they could put their focus on Mr. Colburn. Mr. Colburn switched the duel disk back into a shield as Aaron let loose with the Gatling gun. Simon, deciding something more drastic may be necessary, activated a missile attachment on his duel runner. However, before he could fire, bullets started whizzing past his head and sirens started ringing in his ears. "Police! Pull over to the side of the road, all of you!"

Jake cursed. It was bad enough having Mr. Colburn on their tail, but now the police were involved and the media would follow. _Scare off those cops. Corbak can handle any backlash from the media and politicians just as long as we don't kill any governmentees. _Simon flashed him a thumbs up and turned to his cards. "I summon Wind Effigy!" A tornado of feathers then formed out of nowhere and, at Simon's command, proceeded to rough up the squad car. Not to be left out of the fun, Aaron declared, "I now summon the Stygian Street Patrol!" And with that another motorcycle came circling around Aaron, but this one's rider wasn't human.

Seeing the Wind Effigy attack the police, Mr. Colburn at first thought that the drivers were panicking, but when the Stygian Street Patrol started trying to drive him off the road, he realized these holograms were more dangerous than he'd previously assumed. And as if things weren't bad enough already Aaron was readying his Gatling gun again.

Mr. Colburn was about to give up and try again some other time when suddenly, _Chomp! _The ground under Aaron erupted and a massive worm crushed him before sinking back underground. The Stygian Street Patrol squealed as if in pain and disappeared, and Simon squealed in panic, "Medusa Worm! He summoned a Medusa Worm!" Mr. Colburn blinked. He had forgotten about the monster he placed face-down. Medusa Worm was a fairly good monster during a duel because it could destroy a monster when it was flipped face-up and could flip itself back face-down, but with its low stats, it was easily destroyed in battle.

At least that would have been the case during a duel, but this was a Battle Royal in which reality played a greater role than stats. The Medusa Worm was following the bikers by moving through the sewer system beneath the roadway, allowing it to move very swiftly and strike very decisively. In _this_ fight, the Medusa Worm was of incalculable value.

While Mr. Colburn struggled to weave around the new hole in the road, Jake's three remaining minions started to swerve, trying to avoid the unseen menace below. At the same time the two of them that had yet to do anything pulled out their cards in a panic to defend themselves. "I summon Goblindberg which also allows me to special summon Master of the Flaming Dragon Swords!" A goblin-piloted biplane took to the skies with a wild eyed warrior wielding two fiery swords on the wing of the plane. "I summon Opticlops!" Mr. Colburn swerved again to avoid the ogre-like beast in his path, but fortunately for him, the monster was quickly left far behind, unable to keep up with the cars and bikes.

Just then, Mr. Colburn's duel disk beeped at him again, waiting impatiently for him to start his next turn. Drawing his card, Mr. Colburn looked on with grim satisfaction as he declared, "I activate the Pyramid of Light trap card!" A massive, white, pyramid-shaped light appeared in front of the vehicles, and Jake's minions yelled in a panic as they suddenly discovered themselves driving off the road and up onto the side of the pyramid. Even Jake couldn't help gaping in awe. The Pyramid of Light? He… he couldn't possibly summon _those_ monsters: his duel disk wouldn't have allowed him to use fake versions of Chaos Spawn.

But to the demon-worshipper's horror, Mr. Colburn then declared, "I pay 1000 life points to summon both Andro Sphinx and Sphinx Teleia from my hand." As the duel runners reached the top of the pyramid, the two giant half-man, half-lion abominations blocked their path on the other side. Then Mr. Colburn's car came over the top of the pyramid and careened into the duel runners, knocking off most of the riders and sending them tumbling to the ground. Jake, however, managed to hold onto his runner long enough to play a card and declare, "I banish the Stygian Street Patrol from my fallen minion's graveyard!"

Then everything came to a screeching halt. Jake and his followers groaned on the pavement while their previously summoned monsters tried and failed to distract the two massive Sphinxes. Carl lay on the ground nearby, still unconscious, but Mr. Colburn's legs were too torn up for him to leave the car without keeling over. And as long as Jake was alive, the last thing Carl's father needed was to let his guard down. Instead he yelled, "Andro Sphinx, Sphinx Teleia, tear that boy to pieces!"

There was a quiet groan as the two sphinxes slowly stretched their limbs. Then, they lunged at Jake, jaws snapping hungrily, but just before reaching him, they stopped. Mr. Colburn peered closer in confusion as saw that a new demonic being no larger than the average human was now floating in midair between Jake and the sphinxes, holding each of them back with one of its two hands. Panting, Jake finished his previous declaration; "This lets me Special Summon Yubel from my hand, and Yubel can block and redirect any attack." Mr. Colburn didn't even have time to register what Jake was saying before the purplish demon hurled the sphinxes into the air towards him.

"Oh damn!"

Mr. Colburn jumped out of his vehicle only to collapse onto the pavement as pain shot through his bloody legs. He turned to look up just as the two sphinxes fell from the sky.

Jake stood up slowly, warily watching the two great beasts struggling to stand back up. _So bizarre; first Carl's dad shows up with Chaos Spawn and now his duel disk remains active after his death._ "You three," he said aloud, gesturing to his minions. "Capture these Chaos Spawn and catch up; my priority is still taking Cevin back to Corbakkan." Jake's minions didn't look very pleased about the orders, but they nodded their assent as Jake got back on his duel runner and drove off.

Simon turned to face the Sphinxes which had now stood back up. "Alright, you overgrown half-breeds, let's make this quick." Jumping back onto his duel runner, Simon yelled, "I play Hammer Sho-"

_Chomp!_

Simon disappeared as the Medusa Worm resurfaced with a hurt but very much alive Mr. Colburn on its back. The other two minions had barely enough time to register this before the Andro Sphinx seized the Goblindberg out of the sky and sent it crashing down on top of them. Mr. Colburn glanced around for any sign of Jake. Seeing that his prey was long gone, however, Mr. Colburn just roared in frustration and had the Medusa Worm take him back into the sewers before deactivating the duel system. From there, in the stench of his new hiding place, Mr. Colburn dragged his injured body away from the battle site just as the police started to arrive.


	9. Eye of the Storm

**In hindsight, this story seems pretty lame to me, but I can't stop writing it now; I want to see more. So...**

**Enjoy!**

Chapter 7

Eye of the Storm

Brennden had planned on packing up and running away. Both of his parents agreed that their home was no longer safe; Brennden hadn't told them about Carl and the demon worshipers of course, but it was plain that whatever was happening was dangerous. However, only a few minutes after they'd returned to their house to gather a few belongings, hell broke loose. Now there was nothing to do except wait… and make a phone call.

"Hello?" Relief flowed through Brennden; Petunia was still safe. "Petunia? It's me." "Brennden!" the girl on the other end of the line yelled. "Are you alright? The news says there's some sort of mass terrorist attack in your neighborhood." Brennden sighed as he looked out of his window at the ensuing chaos. "I'm fine, but trust me—you don't know the half of it."

That was an understatement. How could Brennden tell his girlfriend about the purple flames surrounding his house, the white and black robed figures fighting just beyond those flames and the duel monsters aiding in the fight? He didn't really understand what was going on himself. Why were these people after him? Sure, Carl had said something about him being a "chosen duelist" or something along those lines, but that still didn't explain much.

Even more mysterious was the envelope someone had slipped under his front door. Inside was an Xyz Monster—Number 10: Illuminknight—and a note which read, "Embrace the power this card offers you, and you may survive. Signed—A.H. 96, the Chaos Hunter." Freaky. It wasn't even a particularly good card.

Brennden snapped back to attention as Petunia asked him a barrage of questions. "Petunia, Petunia, please calm down," he said, but his girlfriend just jabbered even more. "Calm down? Calm down?! There are terrorists around your home! How am I supposed to keep calm?!" "I know, I know," Brennden replied, "but I… I have something extremely important to talk to you about."

A chill seemed to seep through the phone as Petunia quietly asked, "W-what is it?" "I… know a bit about what's going on…" Brennden said, choosing his words carefully. "You know those conspiracy nuts who think this is all related to the Yu-gi-oh card game somehow? Well, they're right; I was attacked by… a nutcase with a Yu-gi-oh deck earlier today."

"Be serious!" Petunia suddenly yelled over the phone. "I mean come on, you're surrounded by terrorists, and you try pulling a prank on me?!" "I _am_ being serious!" Brennden retorted with a bit more force than he'd intended. Calming himself down, Brennden continued, "Look I'm not worried about me; I'm worried about you. The guy who attacked me said he'll come for you once I… he'll come for you soon." Brennden barely stopped himself from saying 'once I'm out of the way,' but he knew if he didn't keep talking, Petunia would demand that he finish his original statement, so he quickly added, "Look, the terrorists are with him, okay? I'm looking out my window, and I can see the same purple fire around my house that was in Newark earlier. And yes, I was in the middle of that too. That nutcase I mentioned is the one who made the fire." Brennden paused and sighed here. "Look, I… I don't expect you to believe any of this. I just want… for you to promise that you'll take your Yu-gi-oh deck with you everywhere—the other one that you're old boyfriend gave you. You still have it right?"

Brennden heard a sob on the other end of the phone. "Y-yes, I still have it. …A-and I believe you…, but if I learn you were joking, we're through!" "I know," Brennden replied with a sigh of relief. "I know, but that doesn't matter to me as much as making sure you're safe. I gotta go now, bye." "Wait!" _click_

Brennden felt bad about hanging up like that, but he couldn't deal with the inevitable questions. Plus he was afraid that if he talked with Petunia any longer he'd let it slip that Carl was the nutcase he'd been referring to. If there was one thing that would've ruined every ounce of faith Petunia had in his sanity or sincerity… or both, it would've been blaming the terrorist attack on her ex-boyfriend. That was something she'd have to find out for herself.

Assuming Brennden didn't take him out first.  
>.<p>

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><p><em>Finish it, finish the deck.<em>

_You must discard more power; obtain the power that you discard._

_Finish the deck, and release my immortal might._

_Darkness, darkness, cover the world in darkness._

_Darkness… World…_

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><p>"That's it!"<p>

Carl woke up from his unconsciousness with a shout that had startled everyone else in the room. Of course, Jake and Corbak were the only other people in the snake-themed soul restoration room. Still, seeing their shocked faces was far more gratifying than it would be to see the same expression on anyone else.

As the two struggled to regain their composure, Corbak hesitantly asked, "…What's it? Did you realize something while you were outside your body." "Yes," Carl said enthusiastically. "I know why I don't have my Earthbound Immortal yet, and why my decks power is erratic. It's because it's not finished!"

Jake and Corbak shared a look. "That's… an interesting theory. However, it seems Konami has its own explanation," Jake stated glumly. The mention of the company that made the duel disks and the Chaos Spawn cards surprised Carl, so he waited for Jake to finish explaining before continuing his own theory. "Turns out you cheated during your first duel with the duel disk system," Jake continued and then quickly added, "not intentionally, of course. It's just… you remember that Tribute to the Doomed Spell and that Dark World monster you use?" "Yeah," Carl replied. "Actually, that's part of what I was going to ment-" "It's an illegal combo."

Jake's statement made Carl do a double check. "What?" "Your combo—discarding Goldd to play Tribute to the Doomed and then summoning Goldd—is an illegal combo," Jake explained. "You see, Dark World Monster effects only activate when their discarded by card effects, but Tribute to the Doomed discards it as a cost. Apparently, there's a difference between an effect and a cost, so until you send a letter to Konami acknowledging that you cheated, the duel disks are going to rig your duels against you."

Carl's jaw dropped for a moment, and he closed his eyes as he suddenly became fully aware of his post-soul-replacement headache. "Remind me why we let Konami exist anyway? It would be so much easier if we made all the rules." "Because Konami's people are the only ones who know how to create the duel disks and duel runners; all our efforts to reverse-engineer these marvels have ended in disaster." Corbak said, grimly. "Though believe me, if and when we figure out how to make our own duel mystographic systems, that'll be the day we storm Konami and make our own rules."

"But until then," Jake said, getting back on topic, "you've got a letter to write." "Maybe," Carl conceded, "but there's more to it than that. Part of the problem is that my deck is half wrong; it's not supposed to be a Zombie deck, it's supposed to be a Zombie/Dark World deck."

Both Corbak and Jake blinked at that. "What? That sounds a bit… abnormal." "It's what my demon told me while I was unconscious," Carl clarified. "Goldd by itself doesn't cut it; I need to put more Dark World stuff in my deck." Carl slowly pushed himself up off the altar and added, "C'mon, take me to wherever you hide all the good cards; I'm going to need a good three hours to get it just right."

Jake bit his lip and looked at Corbak. "I'm not sure… Can he alter the theme of his chosen deck like that?" Corbak shrugged. "Well, his immortal said to do it… Besides, he is the Deck Builder. If he can't change his deck when he wants, who can?"  
>.<p>

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><p>Jake rejoined Corbak on a balcony overlooking his island a couple hours later. "How is our Deck Builder doing?" Corbak asked, not bothering to greet his stooge. "He's being as meticulous as a painter; I doubt he'll be finished before nightfall," Jake replied. "He really is a Deck Builder—there's no way I could sit around that long just organizing cards based on possible combos and whatnot."<p>

Corbak nodded and continued to stare out across the sea at the sunset. The sight gave Jake a bit of déjà vu, causing him to remember how he had stood on this same balcony with Carl the day Carl had agreed to join their cause. Even so, Jake was too troubled to reminisce for long. Before he could voice his concerns, however, Corbak said, "You want to know what the Jesuits had to say about Carl's father possessing the Sphinx cards." Jake did a double take and then nodded. "Y-yes, of course. They are the ones tasked with taming and containing the Chaos Spawn after all, and the Sphinx set has been in circulation for several years now. Shouldn't they have obtained those cards?"

"They _did_ obtain those cards and sealed them away a long time ago," Corbak replied grimly, "which is why I'm just as concerned as you are. Someone must've leaked those cards back out to the public. But who? Not Solus; he would've kept them under his 'protection' like he does with his three pieces of Exodia and the various other Chaos Spawn he's collected."

"If I may ask," Jake interrupted, "exactly what _are_ the Chaos Spawn cards? They're not daemons, but they don't serve God either, so exactly where does their power come from?" Corbak turned and glanced at Jake for a moment. Then he turned his gaze back to the view and sighed. "The Chaos Spawn… are the gravest mistake the daemonic race ever made. In ancient times, the daemons used to breed with humans, and the resulting monstrosities, the Chaos Spawn, plagued the world as its demigods and dragons and whatnot, and upon their deaths, they became like the daemons but could only appear to humans who were aware of their existence. Unfortunately, while the Chaos Spawn _are_ creatures of darkness, they hate the daemons who forced them to exist as much as the God that condemns them, so they are neither with us nor against us."

Jake grunted his understanding of the situation. If the Chaos Spawn hate both sides in the conflict, it would explain why they seem to have no allegiances. "So, the Sphinx cards are probably using Mr. Colburn to lash out at every other duelist they encounter; that's why Solus hasn't recruited him yet." "It's more than likely that Solus tried to recruit Mr. Colburn but failed due to the influence the Sphinxes are exerting over him," Corbak agreed, "but that still doesn't explain how he got the cards in the first place. It's not as if anyone knew he was a chosen duelist _before_ we found the Deck Builder, but it can't just be a coincidence that he came to possess these stolen Chaos Spawn…"

Corbak turned to leave. "In any event, the Jesuits are looking into it, and this will all be meaningless if we fail to secure Carl's full cooperation. This time, make sure he has his Immortal before letting him leave the Island again; Solus' forces are trying to break through our perimeter to rescue and recruit the boy, Brennden, even as we speak. We can't afford to lose this particular chosen duelist to Solus due to another time-consuming fiasco; if Carl doesn't win this time, kill Brennden yourself."

"Understood," Jake acknowledged as Corbak trudged off to deal with other matters.


End file.
